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Baselining and the "best laid plans"

posted Jul 10, 2010, 6:54 PM by DAVID ZAJANO

First things first... the body and driving issues and concerns. the paint is in epically terrible shape. lots and lots of sanding, surface rust removal and paint prep will be occuring in the coming weeks. The suspension mounting points and strut towers have been spared from the rust so outside of the roof, left front fender hood and a very very samll spot on the right fender it's just a comestic concern, but it's to be stopped before it spreads. This means photos and a write up on body work and paint prep, then the experiment of spraying on rustoluem paint. I'll be buying a cheap gun from harbor freight for the paint job as i don't want to potential gum up my buddies good paint gun.

The hood and grill will be replaced with the hood off of the protege lx donor car that was purchased for $400. I'm also working on sourcing a roof scoop for added airflow, as the a/c is going to be removed. Using clfind.com I located someone in florida parting out their 1.8l Escort GT, $675 netted me stainless stell brake lines, an aftermarket front sway bar upgrade, a poly suspension bushing kit, short shift kit, modified VAF intake flapper and oh a t3/4 turbo kit with intercooler, upgraded injectors, plumbing, manifold, tapped oil pan and lines.

Ok now rally build plan of attack. Upon researching manufacturers that produce a limited slip for the G series transmission I also discovered one the makes a 4.926 ring and pinion. So the next step is to blow the budget out of the water. The reason being is that turboed BP motors make in the neighborhood of 200-230whp. This makes turbo BP powered escorts run in the mid to high 15 second ETs, with the stock gearbox. Shorten the gears with a 4.926 ring and pinion and toss in the .71 5th gear from a Mazda 626 or Ford Probe and you suddenly have a powerplant and delivery that when tossed into a 2200lb car warrents the prep for potential stage rally. So add $1100 to the budget for a cage, $1200-1500 for a proper gravel suspension, $1000 for the before mentioned limited slip and ring and pinion, $450 for an upgraded clutch kit and we haven't even started talked about freshening up the BP before the swap...(Or engine management, cams, port and polishing the head while having it off to replace the headgasket), upgrading the motor mounts, swapping 1st gen subaru legacy turbo 4 pot calipers on the front, the ignition system, an anti-lift kit to help the front suspesnion under acceleration, switching the intake setup over to a more modern system using a map sensor, fabricating fender and under chassis braces, and skid plates, making our own mud flaps and whether to run the car in hillclimbs as well as rally once completed.